jasonsamara

This has been a long process and as I type my mind is exhausted and the past 2 days have been 2 days that I will remember for the rest of my life. For those who are not aware of my journey it can be found here.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rage-find.html

Well as the old thread states we had picked 10-11-14 as THE day. As of friday night I'm sure everyone that knew was doubting it still. So I got up yesterday morning and moved my Camaro to a storage garage in the rain . Then I waited an hour and went and picked up Bob and we were off to the credit union. I was still asking him if he was sure he wanted to do this because the last thing I wanted to do was make him upset. With the money out of the way we grabbed some lunch and went back to his house. It took about an hour to clear a path to move the car. My dad showed up and the 3 of us moved the car for the first time since 1992. Once out we reorganized his garage and moved some cars around for him and I gave the 66 its first bath in forever. It really cleaned up nice and then we waited for my buddy to show up with his trailer. At about 4pm we had it loaded and headed to the garage. We unloaded it and a funny thing happened. It seems when an old Corvette shows up at a car lot people start stopping by . First we turned our attention to the brakes. We just couldn't get pressure and the line was dry. After about an hour we started to get crud out of the lines and we took a break from that and turned our attention to the motor. With the plugs still out since 1992 we hooked the battery up. Now I had poured MMO in those holes last summer and a month ago. So I bumped it with the key and she turned right over like there was nothing to it. We then put the plugs in and hooked the wires up. It was the moment of truth! Also we had gotten as much of the old fuel out as possible by sucking it with a machine out of the line. Poured gas in the carb and with a bit of firing she fired up! About the time my buddy looked at me and smiled she died . This continued for about 1/2 hour. We turned our attention to the fuel pump and took it out. I ran to the auto store to buy one to just get us by for now. Some crappy thing from Korea. By the time I got back my friend had actually torn the original one apart and put it back together and was getting suction. So we just put it back in. Moment of truth once again and same as before. Runs for 10 sec. and dies. We ran a line to a gas tank and now she ran! Then we noticed fuel spitting out of the original filters vents a bit so we knew we were in trouble. So we turned our attention to the tank. We unhooked the line and nothing drained at all and we had 3 gallons in it. We shot air in and nothing. We ran a wire up in and nothing. Now it was about midnight and my buddy says lets drop the tank. Well after we got the spare down we just took the sending unit out and drained the gas. Well now we have no way of sealing the sending unit back in so we knew that tonight was not gonna be the night. We went ahead and checked the sending unit and after using a small drill bit and some air there was a loud pop and it looked like a baby black shot out of there. It was just old fuel gunk and was probably 5" in length. We turned back to the brakes and after 2 quarts of bleeding the brakes built pressure! So at 1am we called it a night.

Got up and went to the store and got valve cover gaskets and sealer for the sending unit. Dropped that off at the garage and went looking for an original fuel pump. Couldn't find one but we found one that was a lot better looking. Got back to garage and my friend already had found a gasket for the sending unit, had it installed and had the valve cover gaskets replaced. So then when we went to hook the expansion tank we realized we had a problem. We had the wrong battery and we knew this from the start, but we didn't realize the expansion tank was real close to touching + and - terminals. So I said guys let me just go get one and I was off again. We ground off the handle ends of the new battery so the cover would slide on, hooked everything up and fired her up again. Now we were in business. Me and the original owner went on a test drive and the odometer rolled past 25,808 for the first time ever. I then let my 2 buddys take it on a test drive and then headed for the house in her. We fixed a vac. leak on the carb and we are missing on cylinders 1 and 3 (probably because of the MMO and the old plugs) The master cylinder is weak. I have to pump a few times to get pressure. I then backed her in to her new home and started cleaning again. I cleaned under the fenders as much a possible for fear of oil getting in there and wicking through over time and causing paint bubbles. I then broke out the clay bar and with extreme caution worked on everything in front of the windshield. Got some wax on her and she really looks fantastic. There are a few nicks but not many. Remember this is original paint from the nose back. It could use a light buffing to remove a few cat scratches and a few other scratches but if I just leave it like it is I will be happy. The original owner came to my house and sat in a chair and kept me company while I cleaned on a car that he has spent 48 1/2 years with. He feels bad about neglecting it for so long, but his garage really was the perfect enviornment. Everyone who stopped by to see the car kept telling him what a great job he did. As we were leaving last night I asked him if he was ok and he told me he was actually enjoying himself. Now that my book is finished I will show you glimpses of what it looked like. Special thanks goes out to Joe Corwell of Route 28 Motors because without him I would have never got her home this fast.





























































































This really is a dream come true and I can't imagine anything will ever top this car wise. This car was supposedly the first Corvette ever sold by Midway Motors in Harman, WV. I will have to look into this. Thanks for reading my novel

Gary's '66

Very cool story! Looks like she cleaned up nicely.

6T5RUSH

What a GEM!!

Congratulations!!! Truly a diamond well kept! Hat's off to the seller for taking such good care of her!



Jim
In God We Trust!

66jack

Great looking car....

LOVE ALL THAT PAPERWORK>>>>

dudman

WOW!!! Really cool. Looks great!

Zoomin

As I looked at the first pix I thought to myself that puppy is going to clean up nice. Sure enough! Great find!

Redbird

Great find and "Save the Wave"!

Boyan

Great end to the story....but.....you need to slow down a little. You are lucky you didnt burn the car to the ground due to a leaky carb or wreck it due to non operational brakes. I have gotten a few cars back on the road from 20 plus year hibernation and they ALL need a full fuel system rebuild , full cooling system rebuild and full brake rebuild. Bleeding rusty lines will not keep the brake system going...as you can already tell by the pedal. And I guarantee that carb will start leaking soon...you did have a Halon fire extinguisher with you for emergencies...right?

I know you finally want to drive it, but take some time to do it correctly. It will preserve the car and your life.

Boyan

Keith Carlson

Congratulations on a very, very nice Vette!!

rayvaflav

A Milano Maroon '66 Coupe with a Saddle interior ? That's a great car with a terrific color combo !

Ray (me too !)

65hihp

You have a beautiful time capsule 66 there. Hope to see it out at an NCRS meet someday soon.
Nice score!

Gary's '66

AND get some new tires ASAP!

ricks327

Congrats on obtaining a great looking car. Take a deep breath and make sure all of the mechanicals (tires look very old) are up to snuff before putting the miles on for all those smiles.
Rick

Revfan

This is awesome! Congrats Jason. Patience has paid off big time. Clean it up, fix what needs to be done, and welcome to Survivor land!

You might need this power antenna
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/pts/4711310649.html

856666

Thanks for sharing the story and congratulations

Phil

Easy Rhino

Wow, incredible story and a great buy. I re-read your original thread and think that if you paid anything close to what you were talking about, then you got an absolute steal in that condition, originality, and provenance.

I agree, however, with what others are saying about going through systems first before you drive it, in order to preserve your investment. Wiring, fuel systsms, tires and brakes, as well as cooling systems and safety systems (such as they are on a 50 year old car) need a going through to preserve both the car and maybe even your life.

I also suggest having a fire extinguisher in the car at all times, and disconnecting the battery when not in use.

Great find and great patience! Enjoy!

Frankie the Fink

Great car, great color combo, and, great story.
Glad to see an older guy let the car go to the younger generation.

So many won't. I've got a line on an all original split window that the 85 year old owner is going to restore someday and won't sell. It's all there but in pieces.

VITIV Coupe

I have been following your story since the beginning and hats of to you for your perseverance. What a great story and a very happy ending. You have a real jem there and as others have said , take your time, get all the mechanical and electrical looked after and enjoy it. She did clean up real nice, congratulations.

65GGvert

Very nice. I'm fond of the color combination myself. Next time you should take some pictures.

Just kidding, very nice job on the documentation with pictures.

corvetteed

Yep, that is a great story, and you seem like a 'nice guy' too. Glad to see you treated the old man the way you did with respect and looking out for his feelings about everything. I'll bet he feels good about selling it to you, and not someone else.